2024 United Kingdom local elections

The 2024 United Kingdom local elections took place on 2 May 2024 to choose 2,658 councillors on 107 councils in England, 11 directly elected mayors in England, the 25 members of the London Assembly, and 37 police and crime commissioners in England and Wales. The 2024 Blackpool South parliamentary by-election was held on the same day. These local elections were the last set of routine elections before the 2024 general election.

2024 United Kingdom local elections

← 2023
2 May 2024
2025 →

107 of 369 councils in England
All seats in the London Assembly
11 directly elected mayors
37 Police and Crime Commissioners in England and Wales
Turnout30%
  First party Second party
 
Leader Keir Starmer Ed Davey
Party Labour Liberal Democrats
Leader since 4 April 2020 27 August 2020
Seats before 6,318 seats
99 councils
2,982 seats
35 councils
Projected vote share 34%
1%
17%
3%
Seats won (2024) 1,159
51 councils
522
12 councils
Councillors (after) 6,570
107 councils
3,090
37 councils
Net change (notional) 187
8 councils
104
2 councils

  Third party Fourth party
 
Leader Rishi Sunak Carla Denyer and Adrian Ramsay
Party Conservative Green
Leader since 24 October 2022 1 October 2021
Seats before 5,531 seats
76 councils
772 seats
1 council
Projected vote share 25%
1%
13%
1%
Seats won (2024) 515
6 councils
181
0 councils
Councillors (after) 5,158
66 councils
838
1 council
Net change (notional) 474
10 councils
74
0 councils

Map showing party control of councils following the elections.
  •   No election
  • otherwise see analysis table

This election cycle returned to its usual four-year cycle after the majority of these elections were last held in the 2021 local elections, having been delayed by a year from 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The results were a strong showing for the Labour Party, who finished first at the expense of the governing Conservative Party, who finished third and suffered their worst local election defeat since 1996, losing over 400 council seats. The Liberal Democrats finished second for the first time in a local election cycle since 2009.

Background

Significance of these elections

When local elections were held in 2021 the Conservative Party made gains, mainly at the expense of the Labour Party. In the remaining years that proceeded the 2024 general election, the Conservative Party had several high-profile political scandals and crises and saw a decrease in their popularity in opinion polling. This was reflected in the poor results for the Conservative Party at both the 2022 and 2023 local elections. As a result of the 2023 local elections, Labour became the party with most members elected to local government for the first time since 2002.

These were the second set of local elections held under the Elections Act 2022, a controversial voter identification law that requires voters to show photo ID when attending a polling station. This act also meant that the mayoral and police and crime commissioner elections would use a first-past-the-post voting system rather than the previously used supplementary vote system.

These local elections were the last set of routine elections before the general election. For this reason, the results were speculated by the media to influence both the date the general election would be scheduled for and the election strategies for each party.

Some Conservatives suggested framing the London Mayoral election as a de facto referendum on the ULEZ, which could impact parties' attitudes towards environmental policy.

In late 2023, Labour suggested persistently high interest rates were going to cause a surge in mortgage costs affecting 630,000 homeowners who would re-mortgage between then and the local elections in May. They described the situation as a "financial time-bomb" and implied this would influence the electorate in the elections.

Lord Hayward suggested that community activists and smaller parties may drain support away from the three main parties due to the directions of those parties and because the Liberal Democrats "are no longer the obvious choice for voters disillusioned with the two main parties".

As the elections neared, there were suggestions that Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's leadership would be challenged if the results went poorly for his party, particularly if the Conservatives lost either the West Midlands or Tees Valley mayoralties. Sunak quickly sought to insist to his own MPs that he would still be the Prime Minister after these elections, even if the results were poor for his party.

Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden insisted that the 2024 local elections would be safe from cyberattacks whilst discussing Chinese state-linked hacking.

Predictions

In March 2024, The Observer reported that the Conservative Party was expected to lose half its seats at this election, explaining that most of these seats were won at the peak of the "vaccine bounce". Conservative Party chairman Richard Holden also cited the "vaccine bounce" as a reason to expect these elections to be "much tougher" for his party than the last time they were contested.

Also in March 2024, Lewis Baston, a political analyst and author, posted that his analysis showed the Conservative Party was due to lose over 50% of their seats which are not changing boundaries. He found that of 613 seats being defended, they would lose 328 based on the swing seen in the 2023 local elections, but would gain eight elsewhere. However, after more work, by 1 April 2024 he said he thought the Conservatives wouldn't lose half their seats because one third of the seats up for election were not last fought in the 2021 local elections, but were actually fought in tougher elections in 2019, 2022, and 2023.

Analysts Michael Thrasher and Colin Rallings also said the Conservative Party was expected to lose half its seats at this election if a similar result to 2023 was repeated. They said the Conservatives would lose around 500 seats while Labour would gain around 300 and the Liberal Democrats and Green Party would both make gains.

Sky News' Sam Coates quoted Michael Thrasher's prediction that the Conservatives would lose around 500 seats while Labour would gain around 350, but added that they consider Gloucester Council likely to switch directly from Conservative to Liberal Democrat-controlled.

YouGov conducted an MRP poll on 14–29 April 2024. They said their key findings were that they "expected Labour to make significant gains across the country, but that stories will emerge from specific local authorities which could leave every party with pleasing news". They predicted Labour to gain control of Hyndburn and Milton Keynes councils from no overall control, and to make significant gains in North East Lincolnshire, Peterborough, Thurrock, and Walsall. The Conservatives were expected to make gains in Reigate and Banstead.

Campaign

Aggregate seats contested by party
Party Seats
Conservative
2,512 / 2,655 (95%)
Labour
2,427 / 2,655 (91%)
Liberal Democrats
1,802 / 2,655 (68%)
Green
1,646 / 2,655 (62%)
Reform UK
323 / 2,655 (12%)

Both Labour and the Conservatives were defending just under 1,000 seats each, the Liberal Democrats about 400 and the Greens just over 100.

Liberal Democrats

On 20 March 2024, the Liberal Democrats launched their local election campaign in Harpenden, Hertfordshire where Ed Davey turned a giant hourglass which revealed the words "Time's running out Rishi!". Davey said he was confident of toppling the "Tory Blue Wall in Surrey".

Conservative

On 22 March 2024, Rishi Sunak launched the Conservative's local election campaign by appearing at a bus depot in Heanor, Derbyshire, alongside East Midlands mayoral candidate Ben Bradley. Due to "human error" 13 of the 35 Conservative candidates were invalidly nominated for Castle Point Borough Council seats, meaning they would not appear on the ballot.

Labour

On 28 March 2024, Keir Starmer and Angela Rayner launched Labour's campaign for the local elections at an event in Dudley. Starmer's speech mentioned the levelling-up policy of the government in the Black Country.

Green

The Green Party of England and Wales officially launched its national campaign at an event in Bristol on 4 April 2024. Co-leaders Carla Denyer and Adrian Ramsay gave speeches at the event with a focus on affordable housing.

Results

Overall

The table below shows the results of these elections, along with the overall number of councillors in Great Britain for each party following the elections.

Party Councillors Councils
Won After +/- Won After +/-
Labour 1,159 6,570 187 51 107 8
Conservative 515 5,158 474 6 66 10
Liberal Democrats 522 3,090 104 12 37 2
Green 181 838 74 0 1
SNP 426 0 1
Plaid Cymru 204 0 4
Aspire 24 0 1
Reform 2 14 2 0 0
Independent 278 2,293 110 1 12 1
No overall control 37 141 1

By party

The Conservatives suffered the worst defeat at a local election by a government since 1996, losing over 450 seats. The Conservatives only retained control of 6 out of the 107 councils; Broxbourne, Solihull, Walsall, Epping Forest, Fareham and Harlow. Their only mayoral success was the re-election of Ben Houchen as Tees Valley Mayor.

Labour won the newly created mayoralties of East Midlands Combined County Authority and the York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority. Labour's Richard Parker gained the West Midlands Combined Authority from Andy Street.

BBC analysis of the 2024 United Kingdom local election results said that Labour vote share had fallen 21 percentage points in council wards where more than 20% of residents are Muslim and analysis by Number Cruncher Politics found that Labour lost 33 percentage points in majority-Muslim areas.

The Liberal Democrats gained Tunbridge Wells council and Dorset Council, resulting in the party finishing in second place ahead of the governing Conservative Party. They have added more council seats than any other party over the last parliament, gaining more than 750 in the last five years, largely in southern England.

The Greens had their best ever local election result. However, they were unable to win a majority in Bristol City council, missing a majority of seats by two, while staying the largest party in the council.

The Workers Party of Britain won four seats: two in Rochdale, one in Manchester, and one in Calderdale.

Reform UK underperformed nationally but did win two seats on Havant Borough Council.

The Women's Equality Party won a seat on Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council, their first ever borough seat in the UK in their nine-year history.

The Social Democratic Party won their third seat on the Leeds City Council in the Middleton Park ward, defeating the sitting Labour councillor.

Results analysis

Analysis by party
Party Councillors Councils
Number Diff. Number Diff.
Labour 1,159 187 51 8
No overall control 37 1
Liberal Democrats 522 104 12 2
Conservative 515 474 6 10
Independent 202 67 0
Green 181 74 0
Residents 48 11 0
PIP 24 8 1 1
Post-election vacancy 24
Workers Party 4 4 0
Reform 2 2 0
SDP 1 1 0
Women's Equality 1 1 0
Projected proportion of aggregate votes
Party BBC Sky News
Diff. from Diff. from
2023 2021 2023
Labour 34% 1 5 35% 1
Conservative 25% 1 11 26% 3
Liberal Democrats 17% 3 1 16% 2
Others 24% 5 6 22% 5

Post-election vacancies

A number of seats remained vacant following the elections resulting in a number of post election vacancies:

  • Coventry City Council, Radford ward, death of candidate.

England

Summary

The table below shows the results of these elections, along with the overall number of councillors in England for each party following the elections.

Party Councillors Councils
Won After +/- Won After +/-
Labour 1,159 5,710 187 51 98 8
Conservative 515 4,740 474 6 66 10
Liberal Democrats 522 2,937 104 12 37 2
Green 181 802 74 0 1
Aspire 24 0 1
Reform 2 14 2 0 0
Independent 278 1,869 110 1 9 1
No overall control 37 104 1

Metropolitan boroughs

There are thirty-six metropolitan boroughs, which are single-tier local authorities. Thirty of them elect a third of their councillors every year for three years, with no election in each fourth year. These councils hold their elections on the same timetable, which includes elections in 2024. Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council has held its elections on a four-year cycle from 2016, so was also due to hold an election in 2024.

Due to boundary changes, some other councils which generally elect their councillors in thirds would elect all of their councillors in 2024.

Elections for all councillors

Council Seats Party control Details
Previous Result
Dudley 72 Conservative No overall control Details
North Tyneside 60 Labour Labour Details
Rotherham 59 Labour Labour Details
All 3 councils 191

Elections for one third of councillors

By-elections or uncontested wards can cause the seats up for election to be above or below one third of the council.

Council Seats Party control Details
up of Previous Result
Barnsley 21 63 Labour Labour Details
Bolton 21 60 No overall control (Labour minority) No overall control Details
Bradford 30 90 Labour Labour Details
Bury 17 51 Labour Labour Details
Calderdale 17 51 Labour Labour Details
Coventry 17 54 Labour Labour Details
Gateshead 22 66 Labour Labour Details
Kirklees 23 69 Labour No overall control Details
Knowsley 15 45 Labour Labour Details
Leeds 33 99 Labour Labour Details
Manchester 33 96 Labour Labour Details
Newcastle upon Tyne 27 78 Labour Labour Details
Oldham 20 60 Labour No overall control Details
Rochdale 20 60 Labour Labour Details
Salford 21 60 Labour Labour Details
Sandwell 24 72 Labour Labour Details
Sefton 22 66 Labour Labour Details
Sheffield 29 84 No overall control No overall control Details
Solihull 17 51 Conservative Conservative Details
South Tyneside 18 54 Labour Labour Details
Stockport 21 63 No overall control No overall control Details
Sunderland 25 75 Labour Labour Details
Tameside 19 57 Labour Labour Details
Trafford 21 63 Labour Labour Details
Wakefield 22 63 Labour Labour Details
Walsall 20 60 Conservative Conservative Details
Wigan 25 75 Labour Labour Details
Wolverhampton 20 60 Labour Labour Details
All 28 councils 620 1845

Unitary authorities

There are sixty-two unitary authorities, which are single-tier local authorities. Fifteen of them elect a third of their councillors every year for three years, with no election in each fourth year. These councils hold their elections on the same timetable, which includes elections in 2024. Two unitary authorities hold all-out elections on a four-year cycle that includes 2024, and the recently established Dorset Council held its first election in 2019, with its next election in 2024 and subsequent elections every four years from 2029.

Elections for all councillors

Council Seats Party control Details
Previous Result
Bristol 70 No overall control (Labour minority) No overall control (Green/Lib Dem coalition) Details
Dorset 82 Conservative Liberal Democrats Details
Warrington 58 Labour Labour Details
Wokingham 54 No overall control No overall control Details
All 4 councils 264

Elections for one third of councillors

Council Seats Party control Details
up of Previous Result
Blackburn with Darwen 17 51 Labour Labour Details
Halton 18 54 Labour Labour Details
Hartlepool 12 36 No overall control Labour Details
Hull 19 57 Liberal Democrats Liberal Democrats Details
Milton Keynes 19 57 No overall control Labour Details
North East Lincolnshire 12 42 Conservative No overall control Details
Peterborough 23 60 No overall control No overall control Details
Plymouth 19 57 Labour Labour Details
Portsmouth 14 42 No overall control No overall control Details
Reading 16 48 Labour Labour Details
Southampton 17 51 Labour Labour Details
Southend-on-Sea 17 51 No overall control No overall control Details
Swindon 20 57 Labour Labour Details
Thurrock 17 49 No overall control Labour Details
All 14 councils 240 712

District councils

There are 164 district councils, which are the lower tier local authorities in a two-tier system, with county councils above them. Forty-eight elect their councillors in thirds and seven elect their councillors in halves. Three district councils elect all their councillors on a four-year cycle that includes 2024, with North Hertfordshire changing from the thirds system for the first time. Due to boundary changes, some other councils which usually elect their councillors in thirds or halves elected all of their councillors in 2024.

Elections for all councillors

Council Seats Party control Details
Previous Result
Basildon 42 Conservative No overall control Details
Brentwood 39 No overall control No overall control Details
Cannock Chase 36 No overall control Labour Details
Castle Point 39 No overall control PIP Details
Cheltenham 40 Liberal Democrats Liberal Democrats Details
Epping Forest 54 Conservative Conservative Details
Fareham 32 Conservative Conservative Details
Gloucester 39 Conservative No overall control Details
Harlow 33 Conservative Conservative Details
Havant 36 Conservative No overall control Details
Maidstone 49 No overall control No overall control Details
North Hertfordshire 51 No overall control No overall control Details
Nuneaton and Bedworth 38 Conservative Labour Details
Redditch 27 Conservative Labour Details
Rossendale 30 Labour Labour Details
Stevenage 39 Labour Labour Details
Stroud 51 No overall control No overall control Details
Tandridge 43 No overall control No overall control Details
Tunbridge Wells 39 No overall control Liberal Democrats Details
Worcester 35 No overall control No overall control Details
All 20 councils 792

Elections for half of councillors

Council Seats Party control Details
up of Previous Result
Adur 16 29 Conservative Labour Details
Gosport 15 28 Liberal Democrats Liberal Democrats Details
Hastings 16 32 No overall control No overall control Details
Oxford 25 48 No overall control No overall control Details
All 4 councils 72 137

Elections for one third of councillors

Council Seats Party control Details
up of Previous Result
Basingstoke and Deane 18 54 No overall control No overall control Details
Broxbourne 10 30 Conservative Conservative Details
Burnley 15 45 No overall control No overall control Details
Cambridge 14 42 Labour Labour Details
Cherwell 16 48 No overall control No overall control Details
Chorley 14 42 Labour Labour Details
Colchester 18 51 No overall control No overall control Details
Crawley 12 36 Labour Labour Details
Eastleigh 12 39 Liberal Democrats Liberal Democrats Details
Elmbridge 16 48 No overall control No overall control Details
Exeter 13 39 Labour Labour Details
Hart 12 33 No overall control No overall control Details
Hyndburn 12 35 No overall control Labour Details
Ipswich 18 48 Labour Labour Details
Lincoln 11 33 Labour Labour Details
Mole Valley 14 39 Liberal Democrats Liberal Democrats Details
Norwich 13 39 No overall control No overall control Details
Pendle 12 33 No overall control No overall control Details
Preston 16 48 Labour Labour Details
Reigate and Banstead 16 45 No overall control No overall control Details
Rochford 13 39 No overall control No overall control Details
Rugby 14 42 No overall control No overall control Details
Runnymede 14 41 No overall control No overall control Details
Rushmoor 13 39 Conservative Labour Details
St Albans 21 56 Liberal Democrats Liberal Democrats Details
Tamworth 10 30 No overall control Labour Details
Three Rivers 13 39 Liberal Democrats Liberal Democrats Details
Watford 12 36 Liberal Democrats Liberal Democrats Details
Welwyn Hatfield 16 48 No overall control No overall control Details
West Lancashire 16 45 Labour Labour Details
West Oxfordshire 17 49 No overall control No overall control Details
Winchester 14 45 Liberal Democrats Liberal Democrats Details
Woking 11 30 Liberal Democrats Liberal Democrats Details
Worthing 13 37 Labour Labour Details
All 34 councils 479 1403

London Assembly

Mayoral and council leader elections

Mayor of London

Labour incumbent Sadiq Khan was re-elected for a third four-year term, with 43.8% of the vote.

Combined authority mayors

Nine combined authority mayors were up for election. Labour won eight of the mayoral elections, including gaining the West Midlands mayoralty from the Conservatives. The Conservatives held Tees Valley.

Combined authority Previous mayor Elected mayor Details
East Midlands New position Claire Ward (Labour Co-operative) new Details
Greater Manchester Andy Burnham (Labour Co-operative) Andy Burnham (Labour Co-operative) hold Details
Liverpool City Region Steve Rotheram (Labour) Steve Rotheram (Labour) hold Details
North East New position Kim McGuinness (Labour Co-operative) new Details
South Yorkshire Oliver Coppard (Labour Co-operative) Oliver Coppard (Labour Co-operative) hold Details
Tees Valley Ben Houchen (Conservative) Ben Houchen (Conservative) hold Details
West Midlands Andy Street (Conservative) Richard Parker (Labour Co-operative) gain Details
West Yorkshire Tracy Brabin (Labour Co-operative) Tracy Brabin (Labour Co-operative) hold Details
York and North Yorkshire New position David Skaith (Labour Co-operative) new Details

Single-authority mayors

One single-authority mayor was up for election.

Local authority Previous mayor Elected mayor Details
Salford Paul Dennett (Labour) Paul Dennett (Labour) hold Details

Police and crime commissioner elections

All 33 police and crime commissioners (PCC; or police, fire, and crime commissioners) in England were up for election. Labour gained ten commissioner positions from the Conservatives.

Constabulary Previous PCC Elected PCC Details
Avon and Somerset Police Mark Shelford (Con) Clare Moody (Labour Co-op) Details
Bedfordshire Police Festus Akinbusoye (Con) John Tizard (Labour Co-op) Details
Cambridgeshire Constabulary Darryl Preston (Con) Darryl Preston (Con) Details
Cheshire Constabulary John Dwyer (Con) Dan Price (Lab) Details
Cleveland Police Steve Turner (Con) Matt Storey (Labour Co-op) Details
Cumbria Constabulary Peter McCall (Con) David Allen (Labour Co-op) Details
Derbyshire Constabulary Angelique Foster (Con) Nicolle Ndiweni (Labour Co-op) Details
Devon and Cornwall Police Alison Hernandez (Con) Alison Hernandez (Con) Details
Dorset Police David Sidwick (Con) David Sidwick (Con) Details
Durham Constabulary Joy Allen (Labour Co-op) Joy Allen (Labour Co-op) Details
Essex Police Roger Hirst (Con) Roger Hirst (Con) Details
Gloucestershire Constabulary Chris Nelson (Con) Chris Nelson (Con) Details
Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary Donna Jones (Con) Donna Jones (Con) Details
Hertfordshire Constabulary David Lloyd (Con) Jonathan Ash-Edwards (Con) Details
Humberside Police Jonathan Evison (Con) Jonathan Evison (Con) Details
Kent Police Matthew Scott (Con) Matthew Scott (Con) Details
Lancashire Constabulary Andrew Snowden (Con) Clive Grunshaw (Labour Co-op) Details
Leicestershire Police Rupert Matthews (Con) Rupert Matthews (Con) Details
Lincolnshire Police Marc Jones (Con) Marc Jones (Con) Details
Merseyside Police Emily Spurrell (Labour Co-op) Emily Spurrell (Labour Co-op) Details
Norfolk Constabulary Giles Orpen-Smellie (Con) Sarah Taylor (Labour Co-op) Details
Northamptonshire Police Stephen Mold (Con) Danielle Stone (Labour Co-op) Details
Northumbria Police Kim McGuinness (Labour Co-op) Susan Dungworth (Labour Co-op) Details
Nottinghamshire Police Caroline Henry (Con) Gary Godden (Labour Co-op) Details
Staffordshire Police Ben Adams (Con) Ben Adams (Con) Details
Suffolk Constabulary Tim Passmore (Con) Tim Passmore (Con) Details
Surrey Police Lisa Townsend (Con) Lisa Townsend (Con) Details
Sussex Police Katy Bourne (Con) Katy Bourne (Con) Details
Thames Valley Police Matthew Barber (Con) Matthew Barber (Con) Details
Warwickshire Police Philip Seccombe (Con) Philip Seccombe (Con) Details
West Mercia Police John Campion (Con) John Campion (Con) Details
West Midlands Police Simon Foster (Lab) Simon Foster (Lab) Details
Wiltshire Police Philip Wilkinson (Con) Philip Wilkinson (Con) Details

Wales

Police and crime commissioner elections

All four police and crime commissioners in Wales were up for election, to represent the four police force areas of Dyfed-Powys, Gwent, North Wales and South Wales. All positions were held by the incumbent parties.

Constabulary Previous PCC Elected PCC Details
Dyfed-Powys Police Dafydd Llywelyn (Plaid Cymru) Dafydd Llywelyn (Plaid Cymru) hold Details
Gwent Police Jeffrey Cuthbert (Labour Co-op) Jane Mudd (Labour Co-op) hold Details
North Wales Police Andy Dunbobbin (Labour Co-op) Andy Dunbobbin (Labour Co-op) hold Details
South Wales Police Alun Michael (Labour Co-op) Emma Wools (Labour Co-op) hold Details

See also

wikipedia, wiki, encyclopedia, book, library, article, read, free download, Information about 2024 United Kingdom local elections, What is 2024 United Kingdom local elections? What does 2024 United Kingdom local elections mean?